Abstract Although Italy is known for its rich culture specifically in the field of art and architecture, this paper discusses the culture of the country in terms of the peoples? language (the Italian language) and values and beliefs. Two important sociological and communicative values are used in analyzing the culture of Italy. The language of Italy is discussed and analyzed using the value of implicit/explicit- rule culture, while the values and norms in the society will be analyzed according to the value of uncertainty acceptance/ rejection.
From the Paper 'One of the rules followed in the Italian language is that whenever a sentence is constructed and has subjects in the plural form, the noun or adjective that follows or precedes the subject becomes masculine in form, if the subject (the group of people being talked about) contains one male member in it. Thus, the sentence, "Marta, Carol, e Mario sonno belli" (Marta, Carol, and, Mario are good/kind)? shows that the adjective "good/kind" (bello-M/singular, bella-F/singular, belli-M/plural) was transformed into the masculine and plural form of ?belli,? despite the major presence of Marta and Carol in the sentence (outnumbering Mario, a male, in the sentence in numbers). Thus, the rules of Italian language imply and suggest the sexist Italian society, wherein greater dependency and value to the male gender is emphasized. In fact, Italian greatly expresses the patriarchal society in Italy, evidently implied from the rules of language of Italy."
Abstract This paper examines ancient Greek hospitality and the role it played in the expansion of the Greek empire. It particularly looks at the comfort provided to travelers. The paper describes the Greek belief that good hospitality is rewarded by the help of the gods.
From the Paper "To this day I have kept this house free from harm" (Euripides, 9). This quotation from the play Alcestis, demonstrated the role of hospitality in ancient Greek life. Apollo was the god being quoted. Apollo was forced by his father Zeus, king of the gods to work as a common cattle herder. Apollo went to the house of Admetus seeking such hospitalities as food, water, and shelter. Admetus granted such hospitality and was repaid with a favor from the god. Admetus had been selected by the fates to die. Apollo had tricked the fates as a favor. Admetus was allowed to find another soul who would die in his place. However, he could find no one willing except his good wife, Alcestis. Hospitality was an idea that was created by the Greeks out of necessity that help expanded the civilization. This idea of hospitality was one that means if someone was hospitable, then he was rewarded; the reward might have been help by the gods, or the person might of made a friend or created an alliance with another city. The idea of hospitality was a vital part of ancient Greece society as was demonstrated in the play Alcestis."
Tags: greece, history, home, Euripides, god, comfort, social, apollo
Abstract The paper is presented as a report which provides an initial review of the culture and society of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The report provides demographics, background and some general recommendations for corporate policy as the company expands its business into the Middle East. Specific recommendations are provided throughout the report to emphasize key points to be addressed in the corporate guidelines to be published at a future date.
From the Paper "In 1902, Abdul Aziz Al-Sa'ud and a band of his followers captured the city of Riyadh and placed the city under the control of the Al Saud family. Abdul Aziz spent the next 12 years consolidating the area around Riyadh and the eastern part of the country into the family kingdom. In order to restore law and order in the kingdom, Abdul Aziz implemented a system whereby every sheikh was responsible for his own tribe under the authority of the king who was empowered to intervene to impose law and order. Saudi Arabia subsequently became an absolute monarchy with no political parties. King Fahd, who succeeded in 1982, appoints a Council of Ministers to run day-to-day affairs. A consultative council (Majlis as-Shura), numbering about 60, has been established to advise the monarch; it has no formal powers."
Abstract This paper examines the sociological history of Mexican Americans from the annexation of Mexico after the Mexican American War to the present. It analyzes the personal accounts of three Mexican Americans from different time periods, and describes the discrimination Mexican Americans have faced throughout their history. The author states that Mexican Americans have been a valuable asset to American society.
From the Paper "From the time of the annexation of Mexico by the United States until the present day, Mexican Americans have faced severe hardship and discrimination, but their presence in the United States has resulted in a largely positive impact on both the lives of these individuals and the nation as a whole. Many of these individuals came to the United States in search of a better, more prosperous way of life, and a large number of them succeeded in this. At the same time, they have added to the economy and cultural diversity of the United States. The narratives of three typical Mexican Americans living in different time periods, Jes's Garza, Camelia Palafox, and Mar"a Jim"nez show the obstacles typical Mexican Americans have faced and what reward they have received."
Tags: illegal, immigration, international, labor, mexico, migrant, nafta, relations, war
Abstract This paper looks at the book "Ethiopia: A Country Study" from the point of view of its unique angle in which it examines the history and society of Ethiopia. It shows how the authors adopt a holistic approach to the analysis of Ethiopia, providing a detailed description and interpretation of the country's major historical events, in addition to its social, economic, political, and security systems.
From the Paper "Presented in a chronologically well structured manner, and in language that is acceptable to both academic experts and a general audience, the study conducts an in-depth analysis of Ethiopia's social, political and economic institutions, their development, efficiency and interrelationships. Ethiopia: A Country Study places great emphasis on the effects of cultural factors and, unlike many similar research projects, the authors of this book have closely examined and considered the results of political and economic development upon the different ethnic groups within Ethiopia, in addition to those of the population as a whole."
Tags: africa, society, economy, development, third, world, country, population
This paper discusses in detail the development of the customs and social structure of the more primitive Inuit society as a direct result of its need to survive in a hostile climate. The Inuit, a member of a group of Eskimoan peoples, live in the Arctic.
Abstract This extensive paper states that all aspects of Inuit life revolve around the survival of the group including marriage, kinships and gender role divisions. The author believes that the Inuit are highly connected with the changing of the seasons and are highly dependent upon one another. The paper states that the Inuit value respect and caring for others as an integral part of their culture because group cohesiveness and cooperation are necessary for survival. The author compares the Inuit culture with the more civilized culture of Judaism.
Table of Contents
General Description of Inuit
Food Restrictions and Symbolism
Kinship and Social Organization
Gender Roles in Inuit Society
Conclusion
From the Paper "The eating of seal is done at a special feast called alupajaq. In this ceremony, the men gather around the seal and cut it up in a special way. The women are grouped together several feet away. The men carry on a conversation that can be heard by the women telling about hunting stories. The women talk about the seal and how nice it is to be blessed with plenty. The meat is passed from the men to the women. The women get the choicest parts of the seal."
Abstract The Nacerima society is American society as if viewed from the outside. It is a parody of the American lifestyle likened to a tribe with culture and rituals. This paper examines the Nacerima society and culture by reviewing the article ?Body Rituals Among the Nacirema,? by Horace Miner. It describes a culture based on rituals that attempt to prevent a journey towards debility and disease and analyses its norms, institutions and material goods with illustrated examples i.e. teeth brushing as a norm, the hospital as an institution and medicines as a material good.
From the Paper "Brushing of the teeth is presented as one of the norms of the culture. This is closely linked to the emphasis on health. As the author says, "The Nacirema have an almost pathological horror of and fascination with the mouth, the condition of which is believed to have a supernatural influence on all social relationships" (Miner). The author takes this to the extreme explaining that, "Were it not for the rituals of the mouth, they believe that their teeth would fall out, their gums bleed, their jaws shrink, their friends desert them, and their lovers reject them" (Miner). The most interesting thing about this presentation of teeth brushing is that it is true - the state of one's teeth is something that impacts on how someone is viewed and has social significance attached to it."
This paper connects anthropological studies to modern trends by examining the contemporary issues of obesity, cloning and the origin of modern behavior.
Abstract This paper states that anthropology can be applied to modern circumstances because people and culture have, and always will be, intricately woven together. The author believes that anthropology must be brought into the study of obesity to prevention. The author feels cloning is applicable since the concept of gene manipulation contains the potential to have a dynamic influence on humanity.
From the Paper "From being able to interpret human behaviors and physical structures through cloning and similar processes, scientists expect to be able to ultimately discredit environment as the cause of the human condition. At the same time, psychologists and sociologists are hoping to prove once and for all that nothing is "set in stone" when it comes to a human's potential to change. If the biologists are proven right, some experts fear that many people might take on defeatist attitudes that stifle their motivations to improve."
From the Paper "Carol Stack's groundbreaking, radical ethnography of a black community in the middle decades of the 20th century is in some essential ways neither radical nor groundbreaking.
All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community, published in 1974 and based on fieldwork begun in the 1960s, in many ways follows the traditional requirements of any ethnography, at least as the form was practiced since its beginnings as a formal subgenre (distinct from travelogues and other related forms of writing) in the late 19th century and extending through the 1980s when a number of anthropologists such as George Marcus began to question the fundamental assumptions underlying the field of anthropology itself and the fundamentally linked practice of ethnography.
Stack's book, like so many ethnographies before hers, seeks to .."
From the Paper "When we think about ethnography, we usually think about the Nuer or the Navajo or some tribe that we have never even heard of in Patagonia ? some people from far away and who are at least culturally and psychology part of the long ago.
Of course, this is no longer an appropriate framework within which to consider the practice of ethnography, which is simply the creation of written texts that describe the results of ethnological or cultural anthropological research. As such, it has changed dramatically over the last two decades as anthropology has begun to shift from its roots in colonial political activity (and philosophy) during which the subject of anthropological discourse was always The Other ? and as exotic and dark-skinned an Other as possible.
Anthropology has come home within the last generation for a varied.."
History of the "Mother Road." Impact of highway on trucking industry & migration to California. Architecture of Route 66 & its decline & fall. Symbolism of road.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 5 sources, 2001, $ 47.95
From the Paper "Route 66, the main route from Chicago to Los Angeles in years past, began early in the 19th Century as a series of wagon trails leading settlers south and west. As time went by, these trails were linked together as a direct line to the West Coast though country that was not subject to the wild winters found in the region of the Oregon and California Trails across the upper midwest and west. In Northern Arizona, the old trail was known as the Beale Wagon Road, which cut straight across the wilderness in the 1800s. Later the railroad line followed the trail, with many small towns sprouting up along the iron track (Fox, 1).
At the beginning of the 20th century, hard topped roads leading fro..."m
From the Paper "Race is one of the most bedeviling of anthropological characteristics. The concept, with the barest tips of its roots in biological and the rest of the plant firmly grafted to cultural and sociological ideals, is one of the first concepts that anthropologists dealt with vigorously in terms of the history of the profession and both helped establish it as a discipline in its own right (distinct from history, political economy, philosophy, comparative religion and ethics) and has kept it from being entirely assimilated into the post-colonial mindset. Like the poor for the rest of humanity, the idea of race ? for both good and ill ? seems always to be with the anthropologist.
This paper examines the views and research on race held and performed by Franz Boas, one of the preeminent members of the ..."
Discusses recent research on primates, how they adapt to changing environmental conditions, & how their social activities develop. Focuses on how studying lower primates can teach about human development.
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 3 sources, 1996, $ 31.95
From the Paper "Human beings are primates, and researchers study other living primates as a way of learning more about human behavior. Naturalists seek to observe animals in their natural habitat to learn about the adaptive capabilities of different creatures. Primatologists observe the behavior of primates to see both how these animals adapt and to derive some idea of how the human being adapts as well. Modern apes and human beings are now far apart in terms of evolution, and they last shared a common ancestor some five million years ago. Human behavior has changed much more over that time than has ape behavior, and this suggests one reason for primate studies: "Accordingly, if we want to know what hominid behavior was like before culture became a factor, and if we wish to speculate as to which...
From the Paper "After America declared war on Japan following the invasion of Pearl Harbor, the American military complex was faced with a difficult problem. The Japanese frequently behaved in ways that confounded the Western mind. Kamikaze missions and near absolute refusal to surrender are two examples of wartime behaviors that frustrated the American high command. America's leaders realized that, in order to wage a successful war against Japan, the Japanese mind must be better understood. Otherwise, no one would know for example, what propaganda would convince a Japanese soldier to surrender or whether or not Japan might be coerced into surrendering before an outright invasion. Because the demystification of Japanese culture would be an essential element in reducing the number of lives lost on both sides, cultural..."
Anthropological study of Western, Native Amer., Chinese views, practices & biases related to medicine, health & illness, mind-body relationship, role of patient and herbalism.
3,600 words (approx. 14.4 pages), 24 sources, 1996, $ 127.95
From the Paper "Alternative Healing: An Anthropological Analysis
To understand the cultural context of an illness is to be better prepared to treat it. Anthropological approaches to healing highlight what various cultures both prize and abhor. When a culture is appraised for how it handles its sick, the diseased and dying, what is uncovered are the culture's foundational values. The recent surge of interest in alternative healing in the west appears as a direct response to the continued insufficiencies of traditional medicine. Studying how other cultures have categorized and treated their ill provides a framework for understanding how healing functions in an anthropological manner. What this comparative analysis of healing situated in diverse cultures will highlight is that
individuals are most likely to regain their health according to.."
